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6 Shows That We Gave Up On

Once a network has a hit on their hands, they usually refuse to let the show die; instead, they’ll prolong the show way past its expiration date. A show like that could continue airing until people finally get sick of it and forget that there was a time when they actually enjoyed it. Other times, a show loses its creative fuel for whatever reason and the writing plummets regardless of how long it’s been on the air. Due to some of the reasons discussed above, these are six shows that we gave up on:

The Office (2005 – 2013)

The Office ended this year on its 9th season. This show went on for so long that we were around to witness Jim and Pam’s marital problems… That should tell you something. Writers B.J. Novak and Mindy Kaling left the show after The Office‘s 8th season – as did Ed Helms and John Krasinski, who were only around for the last season on a recurring basis. Really, though, this show should have ended when Steve Carell made his departure in season 7 with the emotional “Goodbye, Michael” episode. It would have been a fitting end to the series, since the character of Michael Scott was so integral to the show. It’s also been argued that The Office should have ended even before that. The show lost most of its steam through the course of its nine-year run. On the bright side, this show has given us some of the best and most iconic episodes, running gags, characters, and relationships on television ever.

Glee (2009 – Present)

Glee started falling apart towards the end of the first season when continuity and character development was thrown out the window. Most of us stuck around for at least the third season, before most of the characters graduated and left to pursue college and/or musical-related careers. Glee was a pretty cheesy show (given the premise, it was always going to be), but then it became weirdly preachy (I say weirdly because they continue to be offensive towards women, people of color, people with disabilities, etc.). At the same time, songs lost their context and stopped making sense in relation to storylines and character development. With each “Gaga Week” and “Britney Week”, episodes started becoming more about selling music on iTunes than telling a story. With the recent school shooting episode of Glee – entitled “Shooting Star” of all things – the cheapness of it all has become even more apparent.

The Following (2013 – Present)

I was never super in-love with The Following, but it had promise. Kevin Williamson, Kevin Bacon, Shawn Ashmore – the formula has all the elements of a good horror show about a cult of serial killers. As the season progressed, however, it became abundantly clear that too many implausible things were happening in order to kick up the drama. The police are incompetent to the point where it comes across as very contrived. James Purefoy’s character doesn’t make for a very good cult leader, either. This show definitely needs a revamp as it goes into its second season.

Once Upon A Time (2011 – Present)

Once Upon A Time was never particularly good, but it had a lot of potential – an interesting premise and creative license on classic fairy tales so that the writers could add their own original twist. Unfortunately, neither of those things panned out as the series continued. To be fair, some of their twists have been really good – Little Red Riding Hood, for example, is The Wolf in her own story. Others have relied too much on The Evil Queen or Rumpelstilskin driving the action, as if other villains do not exist in the world of Once Upon A Time. What this show is plagued by the most, I would argue, is too many fuckin’ characters that the writers have no idea what to do with. Season 2 alone we’ve been introduced to Aurora, Mulan, Prince Phillip, Cora, Hook, Tamara, Robin Hood… I could go on, and that’s not even accounting for the characters that were introduced in Season 1.

Grey’s Anatomy (2005 – Present)

Grey’s Anatomy is another show that a lot of people forgot about just because it’s been on the air for so long. That’s not to say that their ratings aren’t good or the storylines are terrible (though some of them truly are – does anyone give a crap about April’s virginity?), but the hype and critical accolades aren’t there anymore and neither is most of the charm which made it such a hit when it first aired. I mean, this show used to win Emmy awards, and now it’s been more or less forgotten. The acting is still pretty terrific, and so is the writing, most of the time… but we’re just not as enthused anymore.

How I Met Your Mother (2005 – Present)

When the name of your show is How I Met Your Mother, at some point, you have to show us how you met her… Viewers finally got to see Ted’s future wife – played by Cristin Milioti (who looks a bit like Alyson Hannigan, if you ask me) – in the eighth season finale of the show. After 8 years, the reveal just feels anti-climatic and not nearly as exciting as it would have been at the height of this show’s success.

What are some shows you’ve given up on and/or stopped watching? Let us know by leaving a comment below!

I would agree that any show that has been on for years is subject to forgetting unless they change the story in a way that is beneficial not harmful. Grey’s Anatomy sure can’t introduce vampires to try gain ratings 🙂

Aw, I understand what you are saying but I still love HIMYM and Once, and I thought the Office got better this season. Glee definitely has gone downhill though… (but we still watch it! lol) 🙂
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It’s a shame especially about the office and himym. I used to be obsessed with those two shows. There definitely does come a point when you should call it a day, and end on a high. Like with the original, UK office which left everyone wanting more! I really want to like the following and at points it’s been brilliant but I do find myself shouting at the tv because of the incompetency displayed in a lot of the characters!

Interesting to see how long they stretched out ‘The Office’ your side of the pond. Over here in the UK the US version of this comedy was viewed as very much the poorer cousin of our original. Interesting read…

For me it’s Revenge. The idea behind it was reminiscent of the Count of Monte Cristo (which I love), and the first series was trashy glam TV at its best. I stopped watching midway through season 2 though as lots of random sub plots emerged, as well as the old favourite of People Coming Back from the Dead.

I am not a real TV watcher, why? I guess I lost my thrill with the boob tube when I got hooked on this device called the computer, sure I watch sports when I can why, I don’t subscribe to cable television why, I don’t watch Tv that much so it would be a waste of money for me to pay for TV and not watch, like having a car and not drive it?
sure I watch and I’ll try to list my favorite Tv shows, I watch” King of queens “, “Seinfeld”, and I also view into “antiques roadshow” sometimes also and I know its not the same but Il watch a movie on the TV , when its on sometimes? and not much ,now I think more sports are shown on cable TV ,I watch a Portland trail blazer game when I can. also when I get lucky? I can watch a local sorts event on regular TV. Now I find I can get my news via the computer!

Although I disagree with you on Once Upon a Time and I think that The Following still has promise (even if parts are implausible and Purefoy is a bad leader), I have to agree with you that some shows needed to be retired early, like the X-Files. Honestly, I’m surprised that show got a 9th season without Mulder and Scully as main characters.

I wonder how it would have went if The Office did an Arrested Development type of comeback? The Office was still our show to watch, but it lost a great deal of it’s charm. Same goes for any of the singing competition shows, in my opinion. Great list!

I know that there are many to list. One of my favorites was Thirtysomething an American television series a group of baby boomers in their late thirties. It premiered in the U.S. on September 29, 1987. It lasted four seasons, with the last of its 85 episodes airing on May 28, 1991. I still laugh at some of the parts, how about you?

Revenge. It was interesting at first, but it started to feel like they were making it up as they went along, and it all became ridiculously over the top. I hadn’t seen it for a while, then this week decided to watch some episodes on-demand. It has really outdone itself with each pivotal disaster more outrageous than the last. I doubt it ever will have a conclusion.

Do reality shows count? If you’re talking about a show being way past its prime, I would say “America’s Next Top Model.” It’s now on the 20th cycle (its air date pushed back to August instead of early summer). The format has changed, the original judges are out, and the creative director (Jay Manuel) has been replaced by… uh… Katy Perry’s stylist?

I gave up on 30 Rock in its fourth season. The appeal was the friendship between Jack and Liz and they lost it. I also gave up on House M.D. due to their ridiculous Huddy storyline and I gave up on The Office after Steve Carell left.

Of shows that are still on, I stopped watching Bones after Booth and Brennan got together (it really DOES ruin shows to have the main couple get together too early…to early being before the last episode). The Big Bang Theory is pushing Leonard/Penny and Sheldon/Amy and has lost what made the show great originally: embracing instead of mocking geek culture.

I now only watch Sherlock and Coronation Street. They’re both British; the former has only six episodes and the latter has been on the air for over fifty-two years. The difference between American networks and British networks is they are excellent at figuring out when to end a show.

But the friendship wasn’t the main focus. I wasn’t interested in Tracy, Jenna, Kenneth or the new characters; I like Jack and Liz working together and this went away. They also made Liz go from adorkably quirky to just really strange and weird.

I never got into it. I watched one or two episodes and it didn’t interest me at all. I didn’t get why people wanted to watch people stranded on an island. Although, I love the reality show Survivor…LOL.

I agree with most of what you say, even though I watch most of the shows you have listed. However, I try to refuse to give up on a show considering every time I try something new, it gets cancelled after three episodes.

Leatrice Eiseman

The Walking Dead. Jumped the shark when Lori’s ghost came back. It’s never good to bring back the most hated character in the form of a ghost that has no story line within the show or the original graphic novel.

True Blood was magic the first season….now it is just dumb!! Starz cut Camelot just when it was getting good and I knew Sparticus had to end someday…but I was not ready! I don’t watch network TV anymore….

I have to agree with The Office. Sometimes when you have a certain chemistry and it is dismantled; you are only left with a bland imitation. I also agree with one of the previous posters about The Simpsons. After countless years of hilarity, it is a mere shadow of its former self.

Personally, it didn’t matter to me whether I got to meet the mother or not. Just the interactions between the characters on screen the the writing kept me laughing through each episode of HIMYM. Now that we know who the mother is…we’ll see where this rabbit hole leads. Glee died, The Office died. Sadly.

I agree with How I Met Your Mother! Two of my best friends are crazy about it but I just never got into it, just seems like a weak storyline! And especially to have it dragging on for so long in something that probably could have been summarised in… what? A sentence!

I know a lot of people are going to disagree with me on this one, but I’ve kind of given up on The Big Bang Theory. I loved it for the first few seasons, but eventually all the episodes kind of melded together for me.

You know I feel the exact same way about The Office- even though it was, at one point, my favourite show. Grey’s was old after season 3, never got into Glee at all..

The Simpsons, Family Guy, Bachelor/Bachelorette (how many times can we watch the same thing happen with basically the same people- with different names?), CSI, Criminal Minds… they all need to be shut down!

Heroes was fantastic the first season, but the second season was crazy with alternate time universes and Hiro spending months in ancient Asia. Its main problem was that the first year was too hard an act to follow. After you “Save the Cheerleader, Save the World” — how do you top that? I admit, I hung in until the bitter end, but my heart wasn’t in it.

My guilty pleasure was the original CSI. I continued watching after Grissom left, after the Laurence Fishburne character left, and even watched a bit of the Ted Danson era episodes. Used to be such a great show and I had continued to watch it long after its peak out of habit. But it just got too terrible. It’s in what- the 14th season or something??? It needs to die with what dignity it has left.

I think the X-Files should have ended after at least season 6 even though I am still have all the seasons. HIMYM has really gone down hill and seems more like the story of How I Met Your Aunt and Uncle at this point. Also Two and a Half Men should have ended years ago, even before Charlie Sheen was replaced.

Definitely agree about The Office. Making Andy the boss was just terrible, Ed Helms just isn’t likeable on TV. Hilarious in the Hangover though. Family Guy is another show that I don’t see the appeal anymore. The cutaways are awful and now, instead of taking smart potshots at culture/current events, they just throw the jokes in your face. American Dad is way better.

i agree with greys anatomy .. that just sucked after a while.
big bang theory i have kind of given up on. its tedious watching nerds on tv talk about physics, and then laughing as a reflex response, only because you hear the audience in the show laugh

I gave up on How I Met Your Mother after season 5, I just didn’t care anymore because the jokes were getting repetitive and like you said, where was the mother?
I did stop watching Rescue Me after season 4 even though it was great, but I suppose you kind of get over the unrelenting fucking up and drama.

I love How I Met Your Mother but I don’t recommend it to people anymore. It used to be really funny and you could pick it up anywhere in any season and laugh, but then it just got so dramatic and heavy. (Spoiler alert:) Robin can’t have children, Ted left at the alter, Barney’s dad and fiancee arcs, Marshall losing his father, Lily and Marshall’s breakup – I don’t need to go on. I love the show because I care about the characters, but I think it’s near-impossible to get anyone else to invest in them at this point in.

True blood has gone a little down for me…still dying for the next season, but I think that’s cos I have a weird celebrity crush on Anna Paquin! I will always love sons of anarchy, but if they keep killing off people I like, well I won’t love it quite as much. I stopped watching Prison Break when Sara died because I was so mad. Watched it all again when I finally discovered she was in fact alive. Here in Australia I’m pretty over the reality TV shows now, it’s ALL about contestant conflict, I like some (let’s face it, a few cat fights can be entertaining) but now it seems competition equals a right to be as nasty as possible, for the world to see! But…what can I say, I still love TV!

We stopped watching Breaking Bad after Season 3 – it just became too improbable, with too many “that would never happen’ moments to keep suspending disbelief. Fans keep telling us to go back, but we haven’t succumbed — yet.

Definitely Scrubs. The ending of season 8 was just perfect to end the show. Season 9 wasn’t nearly as good as the previous seasons. And no I don’t just mean that the different actors weren’t as good. The humor didn’t feel the same either.

As for The Office, I agree with your post stating that it should have ended after Carell left. Fans would have been VERY content with that ended because to the fans, the series ended after his departure.

I agree. The Office really went downhill after Steve Carell left. As for HIMYM, I used to be a HUGE fan, but halfway through this past season, I just quit watching. It didn’t keep me sucked in. If you ask me, HIMYM is basically just a knockoff of Friends. Instead of being in a coffee house, there’s a bar. And surprise surprise, two of the people end up together…Monica & Chandler and Robin & Barney.

I stopped watching the Office when Steve Carell left he was too important to the storyline for me to continue watching. I’m still trying to watch the Following and am hoping it gets revamped for season 2 because its getting too hard to believe as you noted. Grey’s Anatomy…its STILL on? Wow. I loved it the first few years but for some reason or another I’d miss an episode then another and then said phooey! Glee I watched a part of one episode and it just wasn’t for me at all. How about the show 24 coming back? I thought I read somewhere once upon a time that the writers didn’t even know where they were going with the plot. Uh, ok, makes sense to me because I could never understand what the heck was going on from week to week!

How I Met Your Mother has started to make me sad. It used to be our go-to in the DCR queue, and now we sometimes get weeks behind because they just aren’t giving us anything to care about. The replacements? New Girl and Modern Family. I adore them both!

I only agree that I thought The Office should of ended when Steve Carrell left the show. Also the following was a big disappointment. As far as the others you mentioned especially Grey’s Anatomy is still one of my favorites!

I think I am giving up on Mad Men. This season is not getting me, but then I am not sure what else I was expecting to see happen.

Also, not sure if it is possible to give up on a reality show, but Top Chef was one of my favorites since it was task/production driven vs. alliances and voting. Their attempt a few seasons ago at travelling around and other gimmicks have killed it for me, sadly.

Many TV shows have a limited shelf life because of the main premise. If HIMYM is about a guy meeting the mother of his children, sooner or later he’s going to have to meet someone young enough to have his children before he gets too old to be appealing. And any show about high school or college students can only be reasonably expected to last three or four good years before the cast has to turn over.
Shows like Heroes should be planned as limited-run “primetime novels.” I like SMASH, but it’s about the making of a Broadway show — the first season, they go through the writing, the casting, the rehearsal, the selling to get it to Broadway. The second season, it opens on Broadway, personal problems and character intrigue ensue, it wins the Tony — story over. What could be next? In order to move on, all the same characters would have to get involved in a new show.
In situation comedy, how long can the situation reasonably drag on until it’s not believable (or funny) any more?
I will probably bail from Two Broke Girls after this season. WIth Caroline’s initiative and business education, it’s not believable that she could continue to be stuck working in the diner, wearing the same two outfits, much longer.

I think many of these series just become formulaic and once we have seen a few seasons we can easily see what is going to happen so we get bored. I have to be invested in at least one of the characters too, often this isn’t the case. There are several series that I just couldn’t continue watching, including but not limited to; Grimm – I dislike most of the characters, New Girl – most of them were just completely annoying and Touch – OMG how ridiculous is the storyline in that? Mind you there are also some great new shows out there – think I will do a post about them.

As I suffer from severe AITP (Ants In The Pants) I’ve only actually watched one show on your list. However i would concur that networks are insistent on squeezing every last penny from a marketable product. This is where art transforms and loses it’s primary purpose of engaging the audience.

Reblogged this on diaryofanymphobrainiac and commented:
Couldn’t agree more. There are shows that really have great potential with their great characters, premises and scripts but when you stretch out a good piece of entertainment to make more money out of it, the story suffers, the development of the characters and the entire show suffers. Suddenly it’s all about prolonging the show and the not sticking to the story or the premise. The quality gets sacrificed for the quantity. A lot of Fiilipino teleseryes and movie franchises suffer the same fate. People on the run to make more money than they can handle just can’t help but exploit good art. They plague the industry and that is one sad reality we viewers will have to deal with.

All the other shows we have watched this year were cancelled. What’s left (other than reruns)? Anger Management, NCIS and Blue Bloods. We still watch Criminal Minds but it badly needs new writers. It’s so predictable we can do dialogue on new episodes. It’s fortunate we have Roku. We didn’t watch any of the others you listed more than once. Most shows we like get cancelled. Since the murder of Harry’s Law, nothing surprises me.

Oh my goodness. I just watched the season 8 episode where they go undercover at a ballroom dancing competition. I didn’t know whether to laugh or stare horrified at the screen. The last three minutes of the episode is Bones and Booth, doing some weird non-dance in a tux and frilly dress, in soft focus, with deranged smiles on their faces…I’m just going to remember Bones as it was up through most of season 7 and pretend this never happened.

Luckily though, I haven’t given up on Glee quite yet, because my Mum fell in love with it a year ago! So I stopped streaming every episode as they came out, and now wait for the DVD with her, and we are only in the beginning of season 3, way too early to give up, haha 🙂

I completely agree with your Grey’s Anatomy comment – April’s drama alone drives me crazy – but Glee was really the biggest loser. About two episodes into Season 4, I said adios. There just wasn’t a reason to watch anymore.

I quite agree with HIMYM. Don’t get me wrong, it is a great series but it did take a long time for us to meet the mother and the ending will be, well they get married. For the others they are still good enough to watch especially once upon a time.

WriterYMN

As much as I love the Vampire Diaries, the season finale left me confused and with a feeling that the show has run its course. And I’ve seen it twice. The whole “Originals” spinoff seems crazy; there’s not enough centrifugal force on TVD to keep another show spinning.

But I will continue to watch, because I need a plot. Most reality TV is for people with sawdust for brains.

I love once upon a time, but I always have more questions then answers after an episode. What can I expect from the writers of Lost? The office was great, but should have ended after Michael left, it just wasn’t the same without Carrell. I still watch Glee but I may give it up after this season, It has gotten beyond the point of ridiculousness and all they are trying to do know is sell covers of top 40 hits on Itunes.

I agree with The Following. I really enjoyed the first two or three episodes, but after that it was way too ridiculous to keep watching. I wanted to give up on Made in Jersey, but they took it off the air before I had a chance.

Loved your post! There are so many that I quit with no regrets. Here is a list of the ones still airing new episodes.
Dexter, once I discovered Breaking Bad, Dexter’s ridiculous plot holes became insufferable. I am ashamed to say I lasted 6 1/2 seasons with that one.
Once Upon a Time and Glee, for all the reasons you listed. Couldn’t get through season 2.
American Horror Story. I was hoping there would be some sort of logical story-telling, my bad.
Hell on Wheels, boring, didn’t care, gave it a full season of 10 episodes to grow on me; no luck.
The Killing. Too many red herrings and filler episodes. Quit after season 1.
Shameless, Revenge and True Blood may be next. Seriously indifferent to what lies ahead in those shows.

Law and Order: SVU. I didn’t catch it all the way back at the beginning, but the fact that I started watching it eight years ago (and that that WASN’T the beginning, lol) and it’s still running, should say something. I loved it for a long time; now it just bores me, especially with Stabler gone from the show.

I agree with you on The Office series, but I am a Office Fan. I’m so glad that I finished watching till the end, because that series finale really got to me. I love those moments when it really gets you -makes you choke up a little bit and tear up. I remember Friends Finale was like that and when these moments happen -you know you been part of something special and magical. Something greater than ourselves that we cannot explain.

I’m going with Family Guy. Don’t get me wrong, when I’m in the mood for some crude, inappropriate humor, Peter’s my guy. But, at this point their beating a dead horse (insert cut away of Stewie wearing a cowgirl outfit yelling racial slurs and beating a horse with x’s on his eyes). Let Seth move on and perfect his budding musical theater career.

I still like How I Met Your Mother, will always think the finale for the Office was perfect, Michael came back yeah! And definitely don’t watch Glee or Grey’s anymore! They ran their courses! Once Upon a Time went a little too far lately. Still love Big Bang Theory for funny and White Collar for the fine actors and the It Takes a Thief kind of tale.